what others would not. martin savidge, cnn. i am don lemon at the cnn world headquarters in atlanta. have yourself a good night and a great week. thanks for watching. see you back here next weekend. ♪ big stakes in boca raton, last chance for the candidates in tonight's final presidential debate. >> growing up in a hurry. doctors say what's been happening to girls is now happening to boys too. judgment day for lance armstrong. in just a couple of hours he learns if he will lose his tour de france titles. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. good morning. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. we are going to start with the

rubber match as we count down to the final hours of the third and final presidential debate and we are literally counting down because in 16 hours barack obama and mitt romney battling in a foreign policy face-off with the race for the white house about as close as it can get. look at this new nbc ""wall street journal" poll. they're locked in an absolute dead heat at 47% each. editorial boards at newspapers across the country are coming out for their picks. three endorsing mitt romney. "the union" leader calling the president president's policy a fantasy. "ago kron beacon journal" and "the plain dealer" and "the denver post" calling the president the best pick under trying circumstances. there's a lot to talk about and paul steinhauser with a preview of the showdown in the sunshine

state. >> with the polls so close right now, there's even more at stake when president obama and mitt romney face off for the final time on the stage behind me at lynn university. expect the two candidates to pick up where they left off last week in new york. >> when we have four americans killed there, when apparently we didn't know what happened, that the president the day after that happened flies to vaug -- >> from libya to china. >> you're the last person. >> the clashes may have been just the appetizer. the candidates are likely to spar over many of the world's hot spots including iran, israel, the war in afghanistan, pakistan and terrorism. the format for this is different with six 15-minute segments. >> the segments will be divided up into two minute responses and then about an 8 1/2-minute discussion. >> after standing at their first two debates this time around

president obama and mr. romney will be seated at the same table along with bob schieffer of cbs news. >> i think the combination of having the candidates seated at a table very close together and the extended discussion phase will really enable an opportunity for the candidates to have a deep discussion about these six topics and we think there will be a great opportunity for exchange between the candidates. >> at a charity dinner the other night both candidates joked about the debate. >> monday's debate is a little bit different because the topic is foreign policy. spoiler alert. we got bin laden. >> let me tell you what i do, first refrain from alcohol for 65 years before the debate. >> except for a short break he took on sunday to watch a beach football game between his campaign staff and some of the media both he and the president have been behind closed doors preparing for the debate and it's no wonder, a new nbc news

""wall street journal" poll says it's debt even and romney appearing to be catching up with the president as to which would be a better commander in chief. this final face-off is the last chance for either man to reach out to a television sudden jens that could be around 60 million viewers. zoraida, john. >> thanks. in the next hour of "early start" we'll break down the debate with ana navarro and roland martin. >> for the best coverage keep it on cnn. our live coverage of the third and final debate begins tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern. four minutes after the hour. a full ten case after the attack in benghazi, the cnn was still telling president obama these stem from protests over that anti-islam video. the cia did not alter its assessment in the daily intelligence briefing until the

22nd even others disputed it, the protest sparked attack. christopher stevens and three others died. >> the it appeared to be the target of a major terrorist target. from a source familiar with the investigation. the 11 terror suspects all jordanians called their plan 9/11 ii and was supposed to happen on 9th, the fifth anniversary of the last al qaeda in jordan when suicide bombers targeted three hotels where many foreign diplomats stayed. >> the 45-year-old ex-marine who opened at a spa was targeting his estranged wife. three were killed but police haven't said if zena is among them. the suspected shooter was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside the spa. boys are hitting puberty earlier. the reason why is a bit of a

mystery. they say boys are showing signs six months to two years earlier than was reported in earlier research. which found puberty generally starting at 11 1/2. experts say this isn't a cause for alarm. in baseball it is going the distance, the san francisco giants forcing a decisive game seven in the national league championship series with a 6-1 win over the cardinals. giants pitcher ryan vogelsong shut done the cards with nine strikeouts. game seven in san francisco. the winner will face off against the detroit tigers in the world series which starts wednesday. in less than two hours we will find out if lance armstrong will lose his title. we'll have a live report coming up for you. smart comes with 8 airbags, a crash management system and the world's only tridion safety cell which can withstand over three and a half tons.

small in size. big on safety. just begin with america's favorite soups. bring out chicken broccoli alfredo. or best-ever meatloaf. go to campbellskitchen.com for recipes, plus a valuable coupon. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color.

the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well. as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios to meet the needs of my growing business. but how am i going to fund it? and i have to find a way to manage my cash flow better. [ female announcer ] our wells fargo bankers are here to listen, offer guidance and provide you with options tailored to your business. we've loaned more money to small businesses than any other bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help.

wells fargo. together we'll go far. a short word that's a tall order. up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up. up isn't easy, and we ought to know. we're in the business of up. everyday delta flies a quarter of million people while investing billions improving everything from booking to baggage claim. we're raising the bar on flying and tomorrow we will up it yet again. with the blackish-blue frame and the white dots and the splattered paint pattern, your lights are on. what? [ male announcer ] the endlessly customizable 2013 smart. welcome back to "early

start." cycle's governing body will decide if they'll strip lance armstrong of his seven tour de france titles. "there's overwhelming evidence that armstrong took part in the most sophisticated professionalized and successful doping program while he rode for the u.s. postal service team." this includes sworn testimony from 26 people, 11 of them former usps teammates and says he trafficked and banned substances, pressured teammates to dope, as well. armstrong for his part didn't talk about it during a livestrong event yesterday. he stepped down as chairman of the lance armstrong foundation last week. his attorney has called the report a one-sided hatchet job. amanda is covering this. the international cycling union has the authority to strip him

of titles. will they do that is the big question. >> that is the big question of the day, zoraida. yeah, they said before they made the decision they wanted to see the reasoned evidence from that report and they've seen it in space, haven't they all, 1,0 th th,000 pages of that document and we're expecting to hear from the uci president pat mcquaid in two hours' time speaking from switzer lapd and remains to be seen. their options are either they go along with the evidence in the report or they take the decision to lance lance armstrong of those temp tour de france titles or they appeal that evidence at the court of arbitration for sport which is the highest sporting court that they could go to. but, yeah, you know, the report itself is full of evidence of testimonies from, as you said, those 26 people, 11 of them former teammates of lance armstrong but lance armstrong

always insists he never officially failed a drug test and that is always his argument against it. if they do, then that will lead to another domino effect of other things that could happen. what will happen to those tour de france titles? will they be reawarded to somebody else. there are some suggestions that responsib sponsors might start to reclaim their money and international olympic committee, it remains to be seen what they'll do. >> and whether or not there will be a criminal investigation. we mention he spoke at a livestrong charity yesterday. he did allude to the controversy. what did he say? >> he alluded to but didn't mention it specifically. he had the longstand ago agreement to speak at the livestrong gala friday night, 15 years of his livestrong foundation that's done such good work for the cancer charity. there was a lot of focus on that

and pretty much stuck to the same lines yesterday speaking rat a cycling event with 4,000 cyclists. >> obviously it's been an interesting and as i said the other night at times very difficult few weeks. people ask me a lot, how are you doing and i tell them, well, i've been better but i've also been worse. >> he said he's also been worse, but, zoraida, things could get a whole lot worse demending what comes out of this press conference. >> we're expecting those results shortly. amanda davies live in london, thank you very much. >> 13 minutes after the hour. winter expected to arrive today in a big way on the west coast, alexandra steele is in for rob marciano. >> good morning, guys. winter snow and also tropical development. in one bite so a lot on the weather menu. good morning, hey, it's late in

the west. our first major winter storm of the season. here's where it will be. really northern california in the sierra in the siskiyous and into southern oregon. see the white, of course, the delineation of snow. we haven't seen that on the map in earnest like this. about 5500 feet, snow, then it moves into boise in toward idaho into the bitterroot range in the next day or two. certainly we'll keep an eye on that and we have something in the caribbean, invest 99-l and an 88% chance of development. where it is in the caribbean, these are the computer models and this is kind of where they think the storm system will go and you can see certainly nassau and the bahamas, one potentially takes it into miami and should happen friday in toward the weekend, but wherever it goes, such a large, massive system the rain and wind field will be big

so here in the southeast we're going to feel it some way, so keep an eye on that. a lot from the snow in the west to tropical development around miami and through nassau and the bahamas. >> alexandra steele in atlanta. >> christine romans with your top stories. mitt romney and barack obama square off tonight in boca raton, florida. he's been preparing for the 90-minute foreign policy face-off at camp david. the stakes couldn't be higher. cnn's live coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern. america mourning the sdelt of george mcgovern best remembered as a champion of peace. he died over the weekend at the age of 90. he was the democratic nominee for president, 1972 but he lost in a landslide to richard nixon. bill and hillary clinton got their start in politics with

mcgovern. they called him a tireless advocate for human rights and dignity. a floor collapse at a tallahassee apartment building sent 55 to the hospital. there was a party going on when the crowded second floor gave way. firefighters used a ladder truck to rescue seven who got stuck in a second story bedroom. none of the injuries are life-threatening. mostly sprains and broken bones. not exactly new math but a michigan state study says twitter has become a new literary format that's improving student learning. the study found college students who tweet as part of their instruction are more engaged with the course content, the teacher and fellow students and get higher grades to boot. the author says twitter is changing the way we experience what we read and write and apparently how we learn in the college classroom. >> i assume it doesn't mean tweeting during class but other

things besides what's in class. >> grammar is what worries me, right. you have to shortening everything. >> grammar baffles me so i never worry about it. 16 minutes after the hour. getting an early read on your local news. we'll start with "the new york times" which has a story about changes in the new windows 8 operating system which goes on sale this friday. i have to say -- >> john says you'll panic. >> the pictures are amazing. some users have been dismayed to discover there is no longer the familiar start button in the lower left-hand corner. this is way, way different. the new system is the strip-down and has onscreen buttons instead of the familiar icon in the corner. >> it could be fun. >> or baffling. most associate alligators with places like florida, not the suburbs of long island. right? so the long island press reports that seven alligators have been found in nassau in suffolk.coms

in the past month alone. one was caught saturday. an officer donned scuba gear and caught the nearly three-foot-long gator. others have been found in an applebee's parking lot. >> they don't belong. i think they suspect someone is letting them loose. >> keeping them as pets. bad situation. head to our blog, cnn.com/earlystart. he quit wall street in spectacular fashion with a "new york times" op-ed now greg smith is talking. you'll hear from him coming up. ♪ my life begins today ♪ ♪ fly by night away from here ♪ ♪ change my life again ♪ ♪ fly by night, goodbye my dear ♪ ♪ my ship isn't coming ♪ and i just can't pretend oww! ♪ [ male announcer ] careful, you're no longer invisible in a midsize sedan. the volkswagen passat.

winner of a motor trend midsize sedan comparison. that's the power of german engineering. check out the latest collection of snacks from lean cuisine. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls. they're this season's must-have accessory. lean cuisine. be culinary chic. they're this season's i'i invest in what i know.r. i turned 65 last week. i'm getting married. planning a life. there are risks, sure.

but, there's no reward without it. i want to be prepared for the long haul. i see a world bursting with opportunities. india, china, brazil, ishares, small-caps, large-caps, ishares. industrials. low cost. every dollar counts. ishares. income. dividends. bonds. i like bonds. ishares. commodities. diversification. choices. my own ideas. ishares. i want to use the same stuff the big guys use. ishares. 8 out of 10 large, professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. introducing the ishares core, etfs for the heart of your portfolio. tax efficient and low cost building blocks to help you keep more of what you earn. call your advisor. visit ishares.com. ishares. ishares. yeah, ishares. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing.

boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi® card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts. more events. more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access with a citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ]

we're minding your business and u.s. markets are poised for a bounce. >> the nasdaq lost more than 2% on friday alone and there's a ton of tech news so we have a preview. >> a debate, i'm sure about china and all this technology news coming out. tech news that's going to change maybe how you're using some of your gadgets. earnings first, yahoo! is today after the closing bell and hear from melissa meyer who got back from her two-week maternity leave. facebook, only second report. thursday, apple and thursday amazon.com. apple news, the ipad mini we're expecting. what will it look like?

how big will the screen be? a lot talking about that and microsoft windows 8 launch. you just talked about that, john and zoraida. the 8 will be so radically different from what you use, it's going to be interesting to see what others think about it. now we're getting the first look at this goldman banker who quit in a huff on the pages of "the new york times." did you see him last night on "60 minutes" launching his book tour that began with his resignation. now he's on "60 minutes" hearing from him in the first time. he said the reason why he left was because the culture there had deteriorated. there he is. listen to what he said. >> i met a junior guy who is 24 or 25 years old and the first thing he told me was he just traded a sophisticated derivative with a muppet client who paid the firm an extra

million dollars because the client was so trusting he didn't check the price with other banks. is it some rogue guy talking callously about clients but his boss, managing director, was nodding and chuckling along. >> the culture of goldman is that clients are -- did you really serve your clients and -- has a culture of just being a client-focused bank so this hits to their heart. is this guy just an average banker who managed to get a lot of press in the favorable pages of "the new york times" or someone exposing something about the underbelly of wall street? right now the pendulum is toward the former. >> not a tidal wave of people rushing to his defense. >> look, if you work an wall street, look, he's also somebody that goldman sachs said that he was denied a raise to about a million dollars a year and denied a promotion a couple months before he left and painting him as an average banker. he will get a lot of press

starting on "60 minutes." you rarely hear such insight. >> we'll hear from him more later. >> yes, hugely controversy. 25 after the hour and tom aiken is at it again, coming up, more comments from the missouri senate candidate that could anger women voters, even more. leaving the house right now, watch us any time, just go to cnn.com/tv. mom? who's mom? i'm the giants mascot. the giants don't have a mascot! ohhh! eat up! new jammin jerk chicken soup has tasty pieces of chicken with rice and beans. hmmm. for giant hunger! thanks mom! see ya! whoaa...oops! mom? i'm ok. grandma? hi sweetie! she operates the head. [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right.

hey, bro. or engaging. conversations help us learn and grow. at wells fargo, we believe you can never underestimate the power of a conversation. it's this exchange of ideas that helps you move ahead with confidence. so when the conversation turns to your financial goals... turn to us. if you need anything else, let me know. [ female announcer ] wells fargo. together we'll go far. a short word that's a tall order.

up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up. up isn't easy, and we ought to know. we're in the business of up. everyday delta flies a quarter of million people while investing billions improving everything from booking to baggage claim. we're raising the bar on flying and tomorrow we will up it yet again.

debate night in america. foreign policy the focus of tonight's final face-off in

florida. a lot of qs. more controversial comments from todd akin. he may have alienated women voters again. the real-life story of "argo," the workers who inspired ben affleck's hollywood movie. welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. it's 29 minutes past the hour. tonight president obama will defend his record overseas against challenger mitt romney in their third and final face-off. this time focusing exclusively on foreign policy and with election day now just 15 days away, can you believe it, the race is closer than ever. a new nbc news "wall street journal" poll has the candidates died at 47% apiece and with us to give a preview we have and republican strategist ana navarro and roland martin. ana, polls here, a new nbc "wall

street journal" poll is showing that obama is beating with suburban women. can romney close the gender gap here? >> you know, i think so, zoraida. we saw that as a result of the first debate, romney closed gaps that we thought were insurmountable a few weeks ago including the women gap. this is going to get closer. we're seeing it cloister in the battleground states and nationally and closer with the regional groups and see this come down to the wire is what i think. >> do you agree, roland? >> go back to 2004. president bush beat senator kerry in ohio. that determined the election. this was always going to be a base vote. i wasn't one of these folks who was saying, oh, the national polls, no, he'll be a blowout. this was always going to be about the economy and pocketbook issues and going to be about, again, who has in terms of the

vision moving forward. so all of the folks were thinking blow-out, they were nuts. >> endorsements, i always wonder whether the newspaper endorsements make a difference. a slew of newspapers endorsements over the weekend. romney grabbing two in florida and three in other big swing states. obama getting multiple bumps in colorado and ohio. how influential do you think these are to people voting. >> i worked at newspapers in my past and they do matter because people do read those editorial pages. if you are a conservative, you want the stamp of the approval from "the wall street journal" editorial build so why should that be a differencemaker? people are reading them, so, you know, again, in a tight election, you want every possible vote that's out there. so i think they do have some role in elections. >> ana, do you agree, do they have a significant role, i should add? >> look, i think their role is less significant with the years.

today voters have such a slew of information. we've got blogs and 24-hour cable channels. we've got all sorts of publications and twitter and facebook so i think they are much less significant. we know newspapers are less significant, unfortunately because i love newspapers, because we've seen their dwindling numbers. i don't think they matter as much as they once did when it was maybe the most important or sole source of information on a candidate, most complete source. these have been going on for a long, long time. you know, most of us really know these candidates by now. >> trust me, if some of those big papers in ohio, ana, would love to have those endorsements, as well. >> everybody loves to have them. >> you want as much support as possible. >> foreign policy and a new "wall street journal" report is out saying the president was told more than a week ago that protests were to blame in the

consulate attack. it was not corrected by the cia until september 22nd. does that take some of the pressure off president obama heading into the debate? >> here's what's interesting. you keep hearing the criticism throwing the intelligence folks under the bus. that's where you get your information from. so that's where they were stating ambassador susan rice when she went on "meet the press" is what she was talking about. if you want to criticize the white house you must also say what was the intelligence, what were our sources on the ground and what were they telling us. that's who you lean on. i think the president when he lays it out, look, general petraeus now has the cia so it'll be interesting to see is he going to come out and speak before the cameras as opposed to just having the president do so. >> ana, what do you think about the latest report? >> look, i think it's a vulnerability but only a vulnerability if mitt romney manages to be able to land it

succinctly. you can't have it both ways and say the next day afterwards you came out and called it an act of terror and at the same time blame not calling it an october of terror on the intelligence folks. if you called it an act of terror the next day in the rose garden why then is it that everybody in your administration called it anything but an act of terror for the next 12 days. >> because, again, ana -- >> that's the question mitt romney has -- >> you're basing it on what the intelligence tolds you. remember, susan -- >> so what was -- >> wait a second, even ambassador rice said this is what we know now. so that is critical because things can certainly change. >> i really want to get your reaction to one final thing, the obama campaign released a brand-new ad minutes ago. let's play it. >> president obama ended the iraq war, mitt romney would have left 30,000 troops there age

called bringing them home "tragic." obama's brought 30,000 soldiers back from afghanistan and has a responsible plan to end the war. romney calls it obama's biggest mistake. it's time to stop fighting over there and start rebuilding here. >> i'm going to let you weigh in. >> huge because we spent billions of dollars on these two wars, did not pay for them and the american people are, frankly, tired of having to do so. also, the president, when he was bringing these home, if you're a military family you're tired of this your family being constantly deployed. this is an ad saying i'm tired of these wars. >> does this hurt with women voters? there's a lot of talk about that, going to war is not popular with women. >> you know, i think, zoraida, women don't look at one issue. we look at a number of issues. i'll tell you something i think we reserve a right to change our

mind and, you know, that's why you see these numbers shifting. this is a good ad. it's a reminder ad. i'm reminding you what i did for you lately. but, you know, mitt romney has places to go at against barack obama on foreign policy. it's not considered his bailey wre bailiwick -- >> rebuilding here, that's what americans love to hear. don't rebuild in other countries, rebuild in the united states. >> on that note we'll leave it, ana navarro, cnn political analyst and roland martin. see you again in our 6:00 early. on "early start" we'll be joined by ron brownstein and be sure to keep it right on cnn. our special live coverage of the third and this is the final debate, folk, it begins tonight at 7:00 eastern. great discussion. 36 minutes after the hour right now. more political news, todd akin

taking a lot of heat again this morning for comparing democratic incumbent claire mccaskill to a dog. akin was abandoned by his own party after those comments about legitimate rape. listen to what he said about mccaskill at a fund-raiser saturday in springfield, missouri. >> so she goes to washington, d.c. and it's a little bit like one of those dogs, you know, fetch, and she goes to washington, d.c. and gets all of these taxes and red cape and bureaucracy and executive orders and agencies and she brings all of this stuff and dumps it on us in missouri. >> now, since akin made the remark, no comment from mccaskill or the missouri republican. political and religious leaders hold pretesters at bay in lebanon. he was killed on friday. protest tried to storm the prime minister office after denouncing

it at the funeral. chaotic situation to say the least. 37 minutes past the hour. sunday night football action, despite a sloppy first half and being down four starters, the steelers managed to keep things close against the bengals. in the fourth quarter with the game tied at 17, the first touchdown of chris rainey's nfl career proved to be the game winner as the steelers went on to beat cincinnati, 24-17. >> big football news, the patriots dramatic overtime victory over the jets in texasboro. heroic victory i would call it. not just my words, words of everybody who cares about hum municipali humanity. "argo." and we spoke with the real embassy workers who inspired the film. you'll want to see this. you're watching "early start." [ male announcer ] when it comes to the financial obstacles

military families face, we understand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. i just finished a bowl of your new light chicken pot pie soup and it's so rich and creamy... is it really 100 calories? let me put you on webcan... ...lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

welcome back to "early start." the new film "argo" is getting plenty of "argo" buzz. it's based on an incredible true story. the tale of six american embassy workers who escaped capture during their the iranian revolution. >> "argo" documents the covert cia operation that got these people out and cnn's alina cho spoke exclusively to the real embassy workers whom the film was based on. >> hey there, good morning. we all remember the iranian hostage crisis started in 1979, 52 americans held for 444 long days began during the carter administration and ended the day reagan took office. this is the little-known story of the six americans who eluded capture. "argo" is their tale, how they hid and how think got out. >> what happened? >> six hostages went out a back exit. >> where are they? >> at the canadian ambassador's house. >> ben affleck plays tony

mendez, a real-life cia operative who hatches a plan to rescue six americans who elude capture during the iranian revolution. >> they're a canadian crew for a science fiction movie. we all fly out together as a film crew. >> that science fiction movie is called "argo." >> if i'm doing a fake movie it's going to be a fake hit. >> these are the real embassy workers. what was your first thought when you saw it? >> it was more exciting than the real thing. >> on anders. lee schott, mark and cora leijack. the first time they all sat down for a tv interview. the only one who couldn't be with us is kathleen's husband joe currently working for the state department in the sudan. these were the actors. >> yeah. >> who played you. what do you think? sure looks like joe. >> yeah. >> even got his little sweaters right. he used to wear sleeveless

sweater vest. >> they took me back to the day november 4th, 1979 when iranian students climbed the wall and stormed the u.s. embassy. what went through your mind? >> this will only last for a little while before the government will come and stop this. and i tried to keep my staff calling and collected. >> i remember calling my mother and saying don't worry you'll see things on the news and i'll call you in a few days. of course, i didn't call back for three months. >> 79 days they hid from the iranians in the homes of canadian diplomats and came to be known as the housen guests. >> people would come to the house and we would hide and posted outside the door. >> then on january 26th, 1980 -- >> there's a knock on the door. i open the door and there's two guys standing there in trench coats. and they said, really?

trench coats. >> did you do this before. >> tony is a charming guy. >> did you trust him. >> if we didn't we couldn't say, send in someone else. >> do you think it will make a difference. >> i think the only thing that's between you and a gun between your head is my movie. >> we all ordered drinks and i'm sure people on the plane if they wandered wondered why there were these arms that went up when we made contact because we were sitting in different places. but we knew why. >> just incredible to speak to them. you know the cia operation was actually classified for 17 long years until president clinton declassified the operation in

1997. that's when, of course, hollywood's whees began turning and they began to think, wow, what a great story. let's tell it and part of a reason why that information remained classified is so they could perhaps use that plan again, of course, we don't know if they ever did. perhaps we'll know 20 years from now but it's just a remarkable story and i know you haven't seen the film yet, i really urge you to go see it. it is one of the best films i've ever seen. >> it's been getting a lot of buzz and how cool to have all these people together. >> they do have reunions every five years but not all of them are together and keep in touch with tony mendez, the cia operative, as well. >> thank you for that, alina. preappreciate it. george clooney one of the producers of "argo" with real-life drama of his own. his role in the trial of former italian leader silvio berlusconi who is embroiled in a sex scandal.

>> bunga-bunga. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪ with a low national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on your medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details.

to meet the needs of my growing business. but how am i going to fund it? and i have to find a way to manage my cash flow better. [ female announcer ] our wells fargo bankers are here to listen, offer guidance and provide you with options tailored to your business. we've loaned more money to small businesses than any other bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far. 100% new. ♪ 100% greek. 100% mmm... ♪ oh wow, that is mmm... ♪ in fact it's so mmm you might not believe it's a hundred calories. well ok then, new yoplait greek 100. it is so good. ♪

at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke.

it is 50 past the hour. let 'get you up to date with christine romans. >> good morning. mitt romney and president obama face off on foreign policy at tonight's third and final presidential debate in boca raton, florida. both men spent the weekend prepping for the high-stakes showdown with polls showing the race is a virtual dead heat. tonight's debate will be moderated by cbs' bob schieffer and consist of six 15-minute

segments each starting with a question followed by a two-minute answer from the candidates. cnn will bring you coverage of the showdown beginning at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. police say the 45-year-old ex-marine who opened fire at a milwaukee area spa wassing toing his estranged wife. three were killed yesterday but police haven't seen in xena haughton is among them. radcliffe haughton was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside the spa. an amtrak train derailed. a dozen were injured. none seriously when train number 350 went off the rails en route from chicago to pontiac. passengers were taken back to the train station by bus and put on another train to continue their trip. george cleanly was asked to testify for silvio berlusconi who is on trial for paying rube

ki the heart stealer for sex. clooney denies being present at one of the parties. he is scheduled to testify friday. >> high drama in italy. >> only silvio berlusconi could get george clooney at his trial. this has just been endless. berlusconi's legal troubles. >> thank you. >> 51 past the hour. coming up no rubber match. the countdown to the third and final debate in boca raton, florida, both candidates polishing up on foreign policy. we got a preview of what the focus will be in the last debate. libya, the four americans killed, the aftermath and how it was handled. ron brownstein has the tale of the tape. so first it was the girls now medical proof that boys are growing up too quickly hitting puberty at a much earlier age. what's causing it? it's still a mystery, diet, all that laying around, perhaps both, elizabeth cohen looks into it.

for all of you parents out there i'll pay attention. plus a former goldman sachs employee who managed a trillion dollars in assets does secret you might dream about at your desk, quitting with a blistering public resignation letter published in "the new york times." thought without a book about it but goldman launched a preemptive strike. we're talking about it with william cohan. how goldman came to rule the world. how tebowing may cost you. how tebowing may cost you. stay with us.ome ♪ ♪ to look at [ sighs ] ♪ oh, he's shaggy ♪ and he eats like a hog [ male announcer ] the volkswagen jetta. available with advanced keyless technology. control everything from your pocket, purse, or wherever. that's the power of german engineering. ♪ that dirty, old egg-suckin' dog ♪

check out the latest collection of snacks from lean cuisine. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls. they're this season's must-have accessory. lean cuisine. be culinary chic. wanted to provide better employee benefits while balancing the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ] as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios

welcome back, everyone. 56 after the hour. john berman along with zoraida

sambolin. we are looking at top cnn trends. what is getting buzz on the internet this morning. >> all right, so people googling to ogle paul ryan. the term paul ryan shirtless is googled nine types more often than paul ryan budget. the gop vp nominee has a body by p-90x and took these photos pumping iron for "time" magazine and claims to have 6% to 8% body fat. all news to the paul ryan girl who we mow is going viral with her song "let's get fiscal." >> do you know anyone who googled him. >> i did but i did it for my job. >> the nfl now getting down with gangnam style. it's become the new celebration dance on the gridiron. the new york giants star jason pierre paul one of the players who celebrated a sack with the horsey and lasso whirl on sunday. >> pay to pray. "the washington post" says as of

october 9th. tim tebow owns the trademark for tebowing. tebow said he didn't acquire it for financial gain. he just wants control. how it's used. make sure it's used in the right way. what does that mean? >> i don't know how you can trademark something like that that's interesting. head to cnn.com/trends. >> meanwhile, there was plenty of verbal sparring in the second presidential debate last week. here's how "snl" scored it. >> gas prices are a little high if you ask me, so how come you don't do nothing about that, all right, thank you, all right. >> well, eugene we need to do everything we can to become energy independent. >> oh, really. why have you cut drilling permits on federal land by half. >> not true. >> how much did you cut? >> not true. you didn't cult anything. >> i'm about to cut you. >> i'd like to see that. >> our next question comes from dominic fonte and it is for

governor romney. >> governor romney, a few minutes ago you say you would like to kick president obama's [ bleep ]. >> oh, boy, here we go. >> well, how about if i kicked your [ bleep ] instead. how would that be? >> you're welcome to try, tubby. i'll put you on the schedule for a beatdown. >> you got nothing. you're a punk. i'll kick our [ bleep ] and then i'll kick the president's [ bleep ]. >> why do you want to the kick [ bleep ] of both the governor and the president? >> i don't know. i'm undecided. >> that's in case you missed it. "early start" continues right now. >> i love that we do this. >> big stakes in boca raton. the last chance for the candidates in tonight's final presidential debate. >> wall street whistle-blower.

the man who quit goldman sachs in a "times" op-ed speaks but is he another disgruntled employee. >> san francisco forces a game seven tonight with a trip to the world series on the line. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to "early start" i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. just about 6:00 in the east. up first, counting down the final hours to the third and final presidential debate. and we are literally counting down. because in 15 hours, barack obama and mitt romney battle in a foreign policy face-off with the race for the white house about as close as it can possibly get. just look at this new nbc/"wall street journal" poll conducted after the second debate. the two rivals are locked in an absolute dead heat at 47% each. editorial board that newspapers across the country are now coming out with their picks for president. the tampa tribune, "columbus

dispatch" and new hampshire union leader" are all endorsing mitt romney. the union leader calling the president's economic plan a fantasy. backing president obama, two newspapers in the battleground state of ohio. the akron beacon journal and the cleveland plain dealer along with the "denver post," which calls the president the best pick because of his record of accomplishment under trying circumstances. cnn political editor paul steinhauser is live from boca raton, florida, this morning. so this is really exciting to you because it's numbers and they're very, very close. >> oh, extremely close. you just showed that national poll. you know the battleground states. it's also extremely close in the surveys, including right here in florida. zoraida, with all those polls in mind there's even more at stake when president obama and mitt romney meet right behind me for their final showdown. i think they're going to pick up where they left off at their second debate last week in new york. >> when we have four americans killed there, when apparently we didn't know what happened, the

president, the day after that happened, flies to las vegas for political fund-raiser -- >> reporter: from libya to china. >> governor you're the last person who is going to get tough on china. >> reporter: the clashes at the second presidential debate may have been just the op advertiser. the candidates are likely to spar over many of the world's hot spots including iran, israel, mideast peace, the war in afghanistan, pakistan, and terrorism. the format for this debate is different, with six 15-minute segments. >> the segments will be divided up into two-minute responses from each candidate, and then about an 8 1/2 minute discussion. >> reporter: after standing at their first two debates, this time around, president obama and mr. romney will be seated at the same table. along with moderator bob schieffer of cbs news. >> i think the combination of having the candidates seated at a table, very close together, and the extended discussion phase, will really enable an opportunity for the candidates to have a deep discussion about these six topics, and we think

there will be a great opportunity for exchange between the candidate -- >> reporter: at a charity dinner the other night, both candidates joked about the debate. >> monday's debate is a little bit different because the topic is foreign policy. spoiler alert -- we got bin laden. >> let me tell you what i do, first refrain from alcohol for 65 years before the debate. >> reporter: except for a short break romney took on sunday to watch a beach football game between his campaign staff and some in the media, both he and the president have been behind closed doors preparing for the debate. and it's no wonder. a new nbc news/"wall street journal" national poll indicates it's dead even between the two candidates among likely voters. and romney appears to be catching up with with the president when it comes to which man would be a better commander in chief. and here's another reason why this debate is so important. this is the last chance for either of these men to reach an audience that's probably going to be over 60 million viewers. when this debate is over, just two weeks to go until election day. zoraida?

john? >> paul steinhauser live for us in florida. thank you very much. >> we want to bring in cnn senior political analyst and editorial director of the national journal ron brownstein. you saw the poll numbers there, 47-47 among likely voters in "the wall street journal." that's tied. completely tied. >> when is a tie not a tie? if you're an incumbent president and you're at 47 this close to an election day you're not feeling so great about that number on the one hand. because, you're further away from 50 than you want to be. also inside that "wall street journal" poll, we've talked before, john, his formula for success in this election is to win 80% of minority voters. 40% of white voters. he's only at 36 among white voters in that "wall street journal" poll. a very low number. the one sliver, silver lining for him in that poll is it's better than most polls have been for him lately among registered voters as opposed to likely voters, he's up five. and that suggests that the really critical role of shaping the electorate in this -- in this campaign, if he can bring out his supporters, younger voters, minority voters, and tilt the composition of the electorate a little more in that

direction than the pollsters expect, as george w. bush did in 2004, that's probably the path to survival at this point. >> let's talk about women. the new nbc/"wall street journal" poll shows obama leading with women. obama is also now beating romney with suburban women, and back in september that same group favored romney by six points. what about the gender gap here? >> i would be surprised if women overall favored the -- mitt romney in september. usually, of course there has been a gender gap, democrats run better among women than men. what's striking in this poll and in all the polls and i think sets up an important dynamic for tonight's debate is that president obama has lost ground among white women and not only the blue collar white women who are always loosely attached to him, but in a number of these polls, college educated white women who have been the most democratic portion of the white electorate. and i think that kind of creates, you saw that in the second debate, focus on issues like equity, access to contraception and planned parenthood. one of the focus in this debate could very well be to try to continue that argument aiming at women for the president, by

suggesting that mitt romney is too quick to kind of rattle the war card. >> it's interesting you say that. this is a foreign policy debate. you think it can be used to deal with the gender issues. >> well, look, i think the challenge for both of them is to tie this debate into their broader campaign narrative and strategy. there's a tendency -- there's risk in a foreign policy debate to become just kind of a conversation about discreet issues without any kind of overriding theme. i think for mitt romney has to be what he did at the first debate, reassure people that he is a plausible president after that pretty rocky foreign trip this summer. i think for the president, the goal has to be, and i think they're thinking this way, how do you tie this in to what is clearly their focus on the second debate and beyond, focusing on women voters. and the most logical way to do that is to continue what joe biden did against paul ryan, open up the tletd that republicans are too quick to be talking about war. >> and there's a new ad to that threat. released just minutes ago. let's look at that.

>> president obama ended the iraq war. mitt romney would have left 30,000 troops there. and called bringing them home tragic. obama's brought 30,000 soldiers back from afghanistan and has a responsible plan to end the war. romney calls it obama's biggest mistake. it's time to stop fighting over there, and start rebuilding here. >> does that appeal to women? >> i think primarily. not entirely. obviously the idea of the commitment in afghanistan isn't popular anywhere in the electorate. i think you can also see that tonight with iran. the news the administration is open to the possibility -- has open discussions about one-on-one negotiations with iran after the elections, republicans didn't go after that as hard as you might have expected. in that, you know, in the initial response, especially since their overall foreign policy message has been that obama is kind of soft on our enemies. i think they are also conscious, if you're saying don't talk, what are you saying? what is the alternative at that point? that last line i think is something we're going to see a lot of tonight, let's

nation-build at home, kind of move the resources from the war into the needs at home. but look, the president, even that poll is tied on balance, it's more worrisome than reassuring for him. i think democrats are one credible poll showing romney ahead in ohio away from kind of full-scale panic at this point. and i think that the debate tonight, the key goal for the president has to be to tie it in with a larger message and not just kind of win a discreet argument. >> ron brownstein, thank you so much for joining us. we're going to invite you back to talk after the fact. >> thank you. >> for the best political coverage on television keep it right here on cnn. our live coverage of the third and final debate begins tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern. the u.s. embassy in ayman was apparently a target in a terror plot that was foiled by jordanian authorities. cnn has learned of the embassy connection from a source familiar with the investigation. the eleven terror suspects, all jordanians who have recently spent time in syria allegedly called their plan 9/112. the plot called for suicide bombings at two shopping malls along with attacks on diplomatic

targets in amman. >> police say the 45-year-old ex-marine who opened fire at a milwaukee area spa was targeting his estranged wife. three women were killed yesterday. but police haven't said if zena haughton is among them. four others were wounded as well. police say the suspected shooter, radcliffe haughton, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. he was inside the spa. so boys are hitting puberty earlier. but the reason why still a bit of a mystery. the american academy of pediatrics says boys are showing signs six months to two years earlier than was reported in earlier research. which found puberty generally starting at 11.5 years old. experts say this isn't a cause for alarm, just a heads up for parents and doctors. elizabeth cohen is going to have more on this study and what parents need to know about this later this hour. >> and there will be a game seven. the national league championship series, the san francisco giants, beating the st. louis cardinals 6-1. to force that deciding game tonight. giants pitcher ryan vogelsong shut down the cards with nine

strikeouts. the giants have already won five elimination games this postseason. tonight's winner will face the a.l. champion detroit tigers in the world series. that will begin wednesday. >> that's going to be a big game tonight going head-to-head with the debate. nine minutes after the hour right now. he gave goldman sachs the resignation letter heard round the world. with a "new york times" op-ed. now greg smith talking about his book, a little wall street expose coming up. we'll ask, does it deliver? copd makes it hard to breathe, but with advair, i'm breathing better.

so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. the wheels of progress haven't been very active lately.

but because of business people like you, things are beginning to get rolling. and regions is here to help. making it easier with the expertise and service to keep those wheels turning. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together.

have more fiber than other leading brands. they're the better way to enjoy your fiber. welcome back. 13 minutes past the hour. it was one of the most spectacular resignations in corporate america. goldman sachs employee greg smith quit his firm in a very public way, after 12 years.

with a scathing op-ed published in "the new york times." >> now, smith expanded his public resignation letter into a book "why i left goldman sachs" which is out today. smith spoke to anderson cooper last night on "60 minutes." >> so an op-ed resignation, you hoped it would be a wake-up call? >> i really did. because there are a lot of people who acknowledge these things internally, but no one is willing to say it publicly. and my view was the only way you force people to change the system is by saying something publicly. >> joining us now to talk about this is the author of "money and power: how goldman sachs came to rule the world" william cohan. william also worked on wall street as an investment banker for almost two decades. you wrote a piece for bloomberg in which you say greg smith is quote, nothing more than a sweet-talking con man. can you explain that to me? who is he trying to shake down here? >> look, i mean, wall street is not a char itability organization. goldman sachs is not a chaff itable organization and never has been.

i wrote a history of the book, it's been around more than 150 years. it's never been a charitable organization. that's fine. so for greg smith to think that somehow this is an organization that's going to make him proud, and that he is going to, you know, be able to go there and do good for the world, is just totally naive. and i'm sure he's not that naive. he went there to make money. he was happy to take their money for the first twelve years of his career, and then this past year when things didn't go the way he wanted, when he didn't get his promotion, his million dollar pay package he up and quit and pretends to be all moral about it. and it just doesn't make sense to me. >> let's talk about some of the details of the book. it's released today but a few have been leaked. and from those reports, many of the anecdotes that smith offers to illustrate the culture inside goldman sachs seem relatively tame. a managing director orders a cheddar cheese sandwich and when an intern delivers a cheddar cheese salad instead he throws it out. example two, he's out to throw a

ping pong game he could have won easily to please an important client. where is the news here? >> where indeed? as they used to say, in my book, you know, i talked about many examples of bad behavior at goldman sachs. putting themselves first before their clients. i mean this is like ancient history. but in 1969 and 1970, in the penn central bankruptcy goldman saved itself before it saved its clients. almost putting any number of its clients out of business, almost went out of business itself as a result of the lawsuits as a result of that. so if greg smith had done any of his homework, which clearly he did not. he joined goldman sachs because goldman sachs like many wall street firms is very, very good at seducing the best and the brightest in america and all of the world to its -- into its buildings and to work there. if he had done any homework at all he would have known that goldman sachs has always had this in its dna. these are hardly revelations. if i were goldman sachs i would be pretty happy right now. there is a big issue to be raised about bad behavior on wall street.

and it's been going on for a long time, and it happened to get us into this financial crisis. nobody's been held accountable. but i would say exhibit "a" of bad behavior on wall street is a guy like greg smith, who gets paid $500,000 a year, and then has the temerity to complain about it. >> you mentioned this earlier and it was denying that raise. the report reveals smith was denied a raise and promotion the week before he quit and allegedly acts poorly. it says in part, quote here, greg smith off the charts unrealistic thinks he should trade at multiples. we told him there's little tolerance for reactions like that and he needs to tone it down. anderson cooper asked smith if he had received a promotion and the million dollars that he had asked for, would he still have quit. smith said, yes. here's his explanation. >> well, what i can say to you is, and this may seem stupid, but i didn't go to wall street purely to make lots of money. >> but i don't know anybody who's ever gone to wall street with -- and not had the idea of

making money. >> no, i, i, i definitely wanted to make money. but i left because things had veered so far from what i actually believed was right that i could have just left and walked out and said nothing about it. but i -- i would have felt that it was not the right thing to do. >> christine you said this is where he lost you? >> he lost me here. you go to wall street to make money. you become a finance major because you want to learn about how you make money. that's the way the whole thing would. and i just didn't understand that part of the story, that he didn't go to wall street to make money. you go to wall street because you want power, you want money, you know how the system works and you want to be part of the leaders. and you look at goldman sachs for example. it prints money and leaders. people who move on off goldman sachs become trekry secretaries, they run big companies, they're ambassadors, so you know, there's really this allure about the culture of goldman that is very seductive for a young person who is interested in the world of money.

that's why you go to goldman sachs. you like the world of money. >> and christine you're absolutely right. i mean, and to think it's anything different than that, or has been anything different than that, over its, you know, 250-year history is just nonsensical. >> we never hear from ex-goldman people who tell us how the day-to-day of goldman life is very rare. your book was very rare and a good insight. there are few other places where we learn about how the kingmaker of a company works. that's what i think is so interesting. >> yes. >> about this guy in this book. we're really hearing from kind of an average foot soldier in a very important company. >> if he had left it at that, if he had left it at that and said here's what it's like inside goldman sachs that would have been great. there was a book in 2001 called monkey business about what it was like inside another wall street firm but greg smith made it into a morality tale and i'm afraid that greg smith does not have the moral standing to pull this off. he's a frustrated ex-employee and he now wants to make it into something else. >> all right. william cohan, author of "money

and power: how goldman sachs came to rule the world." thank you very much for joining us. >> 19 minutes after the hour. two tech giants go head-to-head with big new product releases this week. coming up what's new from both apple and microsoft. a hybrid? most are just no fun to drive. now, here's one that will make you feel alive. meet the five-passenger ford c-max hybrid. c-max says ha. c-max says wheeee. which is what you get, don't you see? cause c-max has lots more horsepower than prius v,

a hybrid that c-max also bests in mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. why they have a raise your rate cd. tonight our guest, thomas sargent. nobel laureate in economics, and one of the most cited economists in the world. professor sargent, can you tell me what cd rates will be in two years? no. if he can't, no one can. that's why ally has a raise your rate cd. ally bank. your money needs an ally.

alriwoah! did you get that? and...flip! yep, look at this. it takes like 20 pictures at a time. i never miss anything. isn't that awesome? uh that's really cool. you should upload these. i know, right? that is really amazing. the pictures are so clear. kevin's a handsome devil that phone does everything! search dog tricks. okay, see if we can teach him something cool. look at how lazy kevin is. kevin, get it together dude cmon, kevin take 20 pictures with burst shot on the galaxy s3.

we're minding your business this morning. u.s. markets poised for a bounce after a dismal day on friday. >> the tech heavy nasdaq lost more than 2% on friday alone and

there's a ton of tech news coming out this morning. christine has a preview for us. >> earnings on friday really shook people up. especially earnings from a lot of different kinds of companies that weren't as strong as people thought and that hurt the market. we're looking for tech earnings and a lot of tech news this week, you guys. this will be a big week for tech. we're going to have quarterly earnings from yahoo! after the closing bell, facebook on tuesday. facebook employees, by the way, many of them will become millionaires on thursday when they can start selling some of their shares. apple earnings on thursday, and amazon on thursday, as well. and a big week for tech in terms of new product releases. you probably heard an awful lot about the ipad money. we'll find out for sure what it looks like and how big that screen is on tuesday. and a lot of folks talking about the microsoft windows 8 product release. that this doesn't look like your -- any of your windows. >> it is so different. >> it is. so that will be a real interesting kind of new development to watch. >> looking very different. >> you're looking different, more like -- >> different different. >> it's different. it really looks a lot different

than all the others. we'll see that sort of start button, some of the things you're really used to won't be there. another story that i'm following this week, guys, there's been just a complete lack of public officials comment about the payroll tax holiday. that was meant to be a temporary stimulus measure to put the money into your pocket, remember. put it in your paycheck. we've had it for two years. when we go over, or if we don't go over the fiscal cliff, doesn't matter, hardly anybody believes that the payroll tax holiday is going to be extended. the bottom line for you is that means you're going to have, you know, you're going to have a smaller paycheck next year. this is how much smaller. jpmorgan chase is saying that it's going to cut economic activity. the house weighs and means committee has hopefully put together a list of how much it actually equates so. something like 333 tall starbucks lattes. 123 movie tickets. 262 gallons of gas. 1200 bags of skittles. that's just kind of a sort of a cute and frivolous way of telling you that, if you don't

have that money in your paycheck, you're not going to be buying things in the economy and that's something that could slow growth a little bit next year. but if you were banking on it, please readjust your budget. because i don't think this one is going to last. >> that was the one thing we need to know about our money? >> the one thing about your money, national average gas prices fell more than a penny in the last 24 hours according to aaa. the average now, the new for regular $3.57. and oil analysts are telling us they expect a drop in the further -- to drop further weeks in part because of closing demand. we'll see if it's true. a couple of big oil analysts are saying you're going to see gas prices drop into thanksgiving. >> i hope so. >> me, too. i know. >> appreciate that. 26 minutes past the hour. real-life drama for george clooney. coming up the hollywood superstar's role in the trial of an embattled world leader caught up in a sex scandal. i'm a conservative investor.

i invest in what i know. i turned 65 last week. i'm getting married. planning a life. there are risks, sure. but, there's no reward without it. i want to be prepared for the long haul. i see a world bursting with opportunities. india, china, brazil, ishares, small-caps, large-caps, ishares. industrials. low cost. every dollar counts. ishares. income. dividends. bonds. i like bonds. ishares. commodities. diversification. choices. my own ideas. ishares. i want to use the same stuff the big guys use. ishares. 8 out of 10 large, professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. introducing the ishares core, etfs for the heart of your portfolio. tax efficient and low cost building blocks to help you keep more of what you earn. call your advisor. visit ishares.com. ishares. ishares. yeah, ishares. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing.

two. three. my credit card rewards are easy to remember. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. [ both ] 2% back on groceries. [ all ] 3% on gas! no hoops to jump through. i earn more cash back on the things i buy most. [ woman in pet store ] it's as easy as... [ all ] one! -two. -[ all ] three! [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

debate night in america. foreign policy is the focus on tonight's final face-off in florida. growing up in a hurry. doctors say what's been happening to girls now happening to boys, too. and it's judgment day for lance armstrong. we expect to learn in less than an hour if the fallen will -- if this fallen guy will lose his tour de france titles. good morning. welcome back. i'm so sorry. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> how are you? >> i'm good. i'm john berman. 30 minutes half the hour.

we're talking polits. president obama and mitt romney going head-to-head tonight in their third and final debate. this time focusing exclusively on foreign policy. now, with the election just 15 days away, the two candidates are exactly tied. that's according to a new nbc news/"wall street journal" national poll among likely voters, which has the candidates each at 47%. all locked up. back with us to discuss more on this this morning, cnn contributor and republican strategist, uana navarro and cn strategist roland martin. let's talk polls. the debate tonight is in florida. our latest cnn/orc poll shows that race down there, super close, mitt romney with a one-point edge. that's essentially a dead heat. ana, that is your home state. what's the assessment of the florida situation right now? >> let me tell you, it feels a lot different than it felt four years ago when barack obama had a clear lead in the state. i think president obama is just

off with enough groups to erase the lead he had four years ago. by that i mean he's just off with hispanics. he's just off with the youth. he's just off with seniors. he's just off with women. of where he was four years ago. that could cost him florida. also, i must say, the romney folks have an incredible on-the-ground effort going on in florida. much more than what we had four years ago. in part because they have the money to compete. they've been able to go to toe-to-toe with the obama machinery and it's making a huge difference in my state. >> roland, there are people, in the energy "times" asking the question saying does president obama leave florida? should he campaign elsewhere? >> first of all one of the reasons you don't pull up stakes you need romney to compete in florida in terms of resources. the last thing you want to do is pull up stakes and allow romney say, okay, fine, i don't have to be as aggressive as well, i can redirect resources elsewhere. if you look at the map in terms of what gets you to 270.

that's what this is all about. this is not trying to replicate 2008. you want to look at the obama campaign, they're looking at multiple scenarios. they're looking at winning mexico and the west, iowa and the midwest along with michigan, wisconsin, ohio, pennsylvania. you win those states you win re-election. that's what it boils down to. so you're still competing in virginia and north carolina and in florida. but you know exactly what's numero uno for the obama campaign. >> it was a big wean ntd for newspaper endorsements. newspapers around the country came out with who they support. mitt romney picked up endorsements in florida, orlando sentinel, tampa tribune, the pittsburgh tribune review, union leader. president obama with a bunch of newspapers, including the cleveland plain dealer, and the "denver post." roland, newspapers are not what they used to be. do the endorsements still matter? >> 2004, president george w. bush's wins ohio by 110,000 votes, he's re-elected.

2008, senator obama wins north carolina by 14,000 votes. in the end by less than one%, barely loses missouri to senator john mccain. so when you're in a tight election, if an endorsement could potentially give you 5,000, 10,000 votes, trust me you do not mind that endorsement. because every vote is going to count, and don't forget, i've been pushing, voter i.d. laws, going to have an impact who turns out. you need every vote because we might be sitting here saying somebody's going to win a state by a very small margin. >> ana, just quickly. i know you're not as big of a fan of the newspaper endorsements being good right now. but they're better to have than not to have. >> exactly. it's better to have a frosted cupcake than an unfrosted cupcake. if you take a look at how much the candidates have invested in getting the newspaper endorsements, you see that they don't have the same significance that they did before. i remember, john, when candidates used to go and sit with newspaper editorial board after newspaper editorial board

after newspaper editorial board in some of the important cities and important newspapers around the country. that just doesn't happen anymore. i think most people are like me, and go to the newspapers to see the endorsements of candidates that we don't know. things like judgeships, maybe state legislators, some local races, amendments, constitutional charter things. but not the presidential where we have such an overflow of information from so many different sources. >> ana navarrnavarro, cnn politn lirs and roland martin here with us today. so good to see you today. we'll talk with you more i'm sure. it is dead tied right now. there is a lot to talk about. be sure to keep it on cnn throughout the day for the best political reporting on tv. our special live coverage of the third and final debate begins at 7:00 eastern time. and in about a half hour, cycling's governing body will decide if it will strip lance armstrong of his seven tour de france titles. the u.s. anti-doping agency has already said its piece, saying

quote there's overwhelming evidence that armstrong took part in the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program while he rode for the u.s. postal service team. armstrong's attorney called the report a one-sided hatchet job. actor george clooney's been called to testify on behalf of former italian prime minister silvio berlusconi who is on trial for allegedly paying an underage prostitute for sex. the girl claims she saw clooney at one of berlusconi's sex parties. clooney denies being present. he is scheduled to testify on friday. people on the west coast bundling up with a winter storm closing in. yes, winter storm closing in. alexandra steele is in for rob marciano. today. >> hey, good morning. i'm talking poles, too, but ski poles. maybe this will portend an active and healthy ski season to the west. in colorado, places like a-basin already open. here's the big picture. here comes all this moisture, certainly cold enough, the white delineating where the snow is.

really in northern california, the siskiyous, the sierras, and northern california. we'll watch it move into the bitterroots of idaho. but here in california and southern oregon we could see a foot of snow above 5500 feet. so a healthy first winter storm although not officially in winter yet. and also, we've got to look to the tropics. our tropical season in the atlantic goes until november 30th. so we're not out of the woods yet. actually this time of year we look a little bit closer to home. as if on cue, look what we've got. an 80% chance of development. what we're seeing in the caribbean, watch this. these are the computer models, we call this the spaghetti models. you can obviously see why. this is where the models think that this storm system will go. and you can see the consensus here. look at it rolling over jamaica. this system is huge, so wind, rain, flooding rains, potentially, and even towards the bahamas. and even one takes it just east of miami. certainly have to keep an eye on this, because as close as it

gets to the eastern seaboard, it could be so impactful because the storm is so big. certainly something to keep a watch on as we head toward the end of this week and for the weekend. >> all right, alexandra steele, thank you so much. 37 minutes past the hour. libya was the most contentious part of last week's presidential debate and the candidates could pick up exactly where they left off in tonight's foreign policy debate. coming up, what each man needs to do to come out on top.

the wheels of progress. seems they haven't been moving much lately.

but things are starting to turn around because of business people like you. and regions is here to help. with the experience and service to keep things rolling. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together.

it's monday. soledad o'brien joins us with a look at what's ahead on "starting point." >> on "starting point" this morning, starts in just about 19 minutes, president obama, mitt romney will be facing off in their final debate. that's tonight.

this time, in the key swing state of florida, with a new poll that puts the candidates in a dead heat. so who's going to come out on top on foreign policy? we'll talk this morning with maryland congressman vis van hollen, wyoming senator john barso. stephanie cutter with the obama campaign and former new york city mayor rudy giuliani. the presidential campaign makes for great political humor. all the joking around, does it distract from the real issues? we're going to chat with d.l. huguely about that straight ahead this morning. and decision day for lance armstrong. the international cycling union is expected to ban him for life and strip him of his seven tour de france titles in the wake of that doping scandal. we'll bring you the very latest on that as well. all right at the top of the hour. >> big day. >> yeah. >> thanks, soledad. >> you bet. >> it is 42 minutes past the hour. foreign affairs will be front and center at tonight's third and final presidential debate. it's ray last chance for president obama and governor romney to make their case directly to the american people. each man's world view will be in the spotlight as they square off

on iran, the middle east and terrorism. that's just to name a few of the hot topics. cnn foreign affairs reporter elise labott live in washington for us this morning. got lots of questions for you. so first off, what are the vulnerabilities of both men given the focus on foreign policy tonight? and what does each of these men need to accomplish? >> well, zoraida, i think for president obama, he has some very good successes to deal with. he can deal with the killing of osama bin laden. this pivot to asia, which i think has had some very good successes in terms of the u.s. being very -- the u.s. being very strong in asia, and kind of countering china. but i think that some of the vulnerabilities that president obama has and certainly mitt romney will be able to pounce on these tonight, are what's going on in the middle east. you have the crisis in syria going on right now. thousands of people, over 30,000 people being killed. u.s. not really having a big plan for dealing with that. and also, certainly, the attack

in libya, on the u.s. consulate in libya. there are questions remaining about how the u.s. dealt with intelligence and security leading up to the attack. and how it led up after the attacks for governor romney, i think he doesn't have a lot of foreign policy experience certainly president obama is going to talk about his lack of experience, even though he led the u.s. olympic committee. president obama is going to say he doesn't have any experience but at the same time i think although governor romney has laid out some issues of foreign policy, he really hasn't laid out a clear idea of how he would rule in the world. how to use american power in the world. he said that america must lead. it needs to bring america back to its glory days. but he's very short on specifics of how he would do that. really just using a lot of catch phrases, zoraida. >> all right. you mentioned libya. and there is a new report from "the wall street journal" about the president's intelligence briefings on libya. and it says, quote, president barack obama was told in his daily intelligence briefing for more than a week after the

consulate siege in benghazi that the assault grew out of a spontaneous protest, despite conflicting reports from witnesses and other sources that began to cast doubt on the accuracy of that assessment, almost from the start. that report was not directed by the cia until september 22nd. and does that take some of the pressure off president obama heading into tonight's debate? >> i think it does a little bit. and you've seen over the last kind of week and a half to two weeks that the administration has kind of been throwing the intelligence community under the bus, if you will. vice president biden, in his debate, kind of spoke a little bit about the intelligence that they had and other administration officials saying that the intelligence assessment that the cia gave them were wrong. i think it takes a little bit of heat in terms of how they change from whether this was a protest, whether it does. it doesn't explain why a couple of days after these reports about a protest started to change, you saw in the media

that there were a lot of diverting views from various agencies, the state department was definitely contradicts that. why the administration didn't pro-actively look for something a little bit more concrete, and why it kept going on with this assessment, zoraida. so i think it takes a little bit of heat off but there's still a lot of questions, not just about this whole idea of what the administration said, but the intelligence community as a whole, intelligence failures, and also security at the embassy. so there certainly is a lot more questions that the administration has to answer. >> all right. elise labott live in washington for us. thank you. >> 46 minutes after the hour right now. it's happening to girls, and now, boys as well. kids hitting puberty earlier than ever. but why? and can parents do anything to stop it? should they? a closer look coming up.

it's hard to see opportunity in today's challenging environment. unless you have the right perspective.

bny mellon wealth management has the vision and experience to look beyond the obvious. we'll uncover opportunities, find hidden risk, and make success a reality. bny mellon wealth management

welcome back, everyone.

president obama and mitt romney face off on foreign policy at tonight's third and final presidential debate in boca raton, florida. you are looking at live pictures of the debate hall. both men spent the weekend prepping for the high stakes showdown with polls showing the race a virtual dead heat. tonight's debate will be moderated by bob schieffer of cbs and will consist of six 15-minute segments, each starting with a question, followed by two-minute answers from the candidates. our special live coverage of tonight's presidential debate begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. missouri republican todd akin is taking a lot of heat again this morning for comparing democratic incumbent claire mccaskill to a dog. akin was abandoned by his own party back in august after his controversial comments about legitimate rape. listen to what he said about mccaskill at a fund-raiser saturday. this is in springfield, missouri. >> so she goes to washington, d.c., and it's a little bit like, you know, one of those dogs, you know, fetch, and she goes to washington, d.c. and gets all of these taxes and red tape and bureaucracy and

executive orders and agencies, and she brings all of this stuff, and dumps it on us in missouri. >> since akin made that remark there's been no comment from mccaskill or the missouri republicans. police say the 45-year-old ex-marine who opened fire at a milwaukee area spa was targeting his estranged wife. three women were killed yesterday, but police haven't said if zena haughton is among them. four others were wounded. police say the suspected shooter, radcliffe haughton, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside the spa. facebook founder mark zuckerberg predicts a whole lot of sharing in the next decade. on saturday he told a packed hall that people will be sharing 1,000 times as many things in 2022 as they do now. not just for keeping in touch but for interacting with brands as well. if he's right, facebook's future could be pretty bright. sunday night football action, the pittsburgh steelers were down four starters but despite a sloppy first half they managed to keep things close

against the cincinnati bengals. then in the fourth quarter with the game tied at 17, chris rainy's first nfl touchdown proved to be the game winner. a good way to get your first as the steelers went on to beat the bengals 24-17. 51 minutes after the hour right now. the american academy of pediatrics says boys are reaching puberty earlier. much earlier. and the news comes after studies show girls also hitting puberty earlier. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen joins us now live from atlanta to explain. elizabeth, how much earlier are we talking about here for boys? >> it's a pretty significant chunk of time, john. it's about six months to two years earlier than in studies that looked at previous decades. you know what's interesting? it's different by race. so let's take a look at these specific numbers. when you look at african-american boys, this study found they were hitting puberty at around a little over 9 years old. for white boys a little over 10 years old. hispanic boys were just a tad earlier, 10.4 years old. and when pediatricians see this data they think, you know, maybe

parents need to be having that talk with their boys a little sooner than what they might have done. >> i suppose the question here, elizabeth, is why? why is this happening earlier? >> right. that is what everybody wants to know and no one's quite sure. there are all sorts of theorys out there. you know, perhaps it's hormones in our food. hormones in our environment. perhaps it's because boys, like girls, are fatter than they used to be. and fat plays a role in hormone production. but you know what? we just don't know. and that's the next big question to try to answer. >> you know, what do parents do about this? what should they do with this information? should you try to keep this from happening? is there anything you can do? >> early puberty in girls has proved to be detrimental psychologically and physically in many ways. and so some doctors would say, yeah, try to keep it -- stage that puberty off until it's a little bit later. we asked doctors at the american academy of pediatrics, what do you tell your patients? she said i tell them there's no way to stave off puberty but you

can do these two things, not use products that have bpa in them and eat foods that are hormone free like meat and milk. that's not necessarily going to help. but, there's no harm in doing these things. >> all right. elizabeth cohen. this study getting a lot of attention. thanks for giving us some answers this morning. >> thank you. >> 53 minutes past the hour. today's best advice is coming up. tains of china, hand-carved on the side of a cliff is the guoliang tunnel. what?! you've got to be kidding me. [ derek ] i've never seen a road like this. there's jagged rock all the way around. this is really gonna test the ats on all levels. [ derek ] this road is the most uneven surface, and it gets very narrow. magnetic ride control is going to be working hard. the shock absorbers react to the road 1,000 times a second. it keeps you firmly in control. whoa! [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats. flavor, meet food. it's time for swanson flavor boost. concentrated broth in easy to use packets. mix it into skillet dishes, for an instant dose of...

hell-o! [ female announcer ] get recipes at flavorboost.com. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. no way. [ male announcer ] sorry. alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast-acting decongestant to relieve your stuffy nose. thanks. [ male announcer ] you're welcome. [ male announcer ] try new alka-seltzer plus severe allergy

to treat allergy symptoms plus sinus congestion and pain. [ male announcer ] try new alka-seltzer plus severe allergy anncr: every president inherits few have faced so many. four years later... our enemies have been brought to justice. our heroes are coming home. assembly lines are humming again. there are still challenges to meet. children to educate. a middle class to rebuild. but the last thing we should do is turn back now. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. it's not exactly the new math. but a michigan state study says twitter has become a new literary format that's improving student learning. the study found college students who tweet as part of their instruction are more engaged with the course content. the teacher and also with fellow

students. and get higher grades to boot. the author says twitter is changing the way we experience what we read and what we write. pay to pray? "the washington post" says as of october 9th, tim tebow now owns the trade mark for tebowing. yes, it's true. tebow says he didn't acquire the trade mark for financial gain, he just wants to control how it's used and make sure it's used the right way. >> how do you control that? >> that will be interesting to see. >> we're going to wrap it up with best advice. >> richard socarides stopped by, democratic strategist, and this is what he told us. >> you know, the best advice i ever got was from my old boss, president bill clinton, who told me, if you've got an idea, you believe in, never give up. don't give up pushing it. he told me this in the middle of the impeachment proceeding and it was in difference to the fact that he was not giving up. and i was amazed at his strength and his stamina during that.

>> pretty big name drop there. >> my old boss, bill clinton who told me. >> in the middle of an impeachment proceeding. >> my friend the pope once said to me -- >> we love richard socarides. >> good advice nonetheless. >> that is all for "early start" today. >> "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. our starting point this morning the final showdown. president obama and mitt romney meet for their third and final debate. it's tonight in boca raton in florida. and it's all about who's strongest on foreign policy. as a new poll puts the candidates in a dead heat. a wake-up call. the goldman sachs employee with the incredible public resignation was on tv for the first time revealing what he calls a toxic culture at the company. we'll hear from one man who says greg smith conned everybody. decision day for lance armstrong. he could learn in just a few minutes if he's going to lose his record seven tour de france titles over those